FicWad

Author's Notes: I don't own a blasted thing. This is a challenge fiction for littlefiction over fan fiction.net. I apologize if it's not up to par, but I tried. D: This challenge was a bit hard for me, but I trust my readers will enjoy it anyway? -killed- In any case, please read and review. I really love to hear what you think of it.



Chicken Soup for Kaiba's Soul

By LilyChan



The doctor took off his stethoscope with an amused smile on his face.



"He'll be fine, Mister Kaiba. It's just the case of the flu," he said as he placed the instrument back into his black bag.



"The flu?Is that all?" Seto nearly shouted. The boy on the bed slightly winced at the volume of his brother's voice. He cursed himself as he tried to lower his voice down, but unfortunately not his temper.



When the older man glanced back at Seto, he shrugged. "Give him some cough syrup to at least help with his cough; maybe some homemade chicken soup."



The boy pulled the doctor's coat as the brunet scoffed and almost laughed at his tone. Once the man looked back at him, he said in a whisper. "But they taste so nasty. Do I have to take it?"



He laughed kindly but the brunet just merely got more annoyed if he ever could. "Yes, I'm afraid you have to. I can give it to you myself if you -"



"You've already extended your boundaries."



Once again he shifted his attention to the older Kaiba brother, but his smile dropped to afrown.



"How so, Mister Kaiba?"



He was taken aback - though he didn't show it. He didn't expect this insolent doctor to actually have a comeback for him. However, thankfully he was prepared anyway. He always was. Though, as he was about to answer, the doctor decided to speak once more.



"I'm simply offering some comfort to my patient. I thought you wanted your little brother to have all the comforts you apparently didn't have as a child. That's all." Seto wanted to put the man in his place, but he promised Mokuba he wouldn't treat people like that anymore; at least not in front of him. The man whipped out a notepad and a pencil seemingly from nowhere and started to write quickly. When he finished, he tore it off the page and handed it to the angered brunet. "These are the best medicines to treat the symptoms. If you need to,"he said as he stood up with his bag, "please feel free to call my assistant to schedule an appointment."



Once Seto read everything, he glared at the man. Well, harder then usual that is.



"Why do we need to call you? You are the family doctor."



"Now, now, Mister Kaiba; just because I'm your doctor right now doesn't mean I see just you. I have other families to tend to. Are you sure you don't need me?"



He was silent, trying to decide whether to kill him in front of Mokuba or in his office. Then he finally spoke. "Very sure. Don't expect a call from me."



He shrugged yet again. "Fine." He walked out the room, but not before dropping off his card. The brunet stuffed it in his pocket (as with the prescription). Once he was confident that it was only he and Mokuba he rushed to his bedside as the younger boy laid back down.



Almost immediately his expression changed from anger to worry. Mokuba wasn't surprised by this; in fact he looked quite annoyed by it.



"Are you feeling better, Mokuba?"



"No better then when the doctor just left," he mumbled.



"What?"



Mokuba sighed. "Nothing. Never mind. Yeah, I'm fine."



Seto let out a sigh of relief, and then he heard his brother cough really hard. Once again he asked him in a worried tone. "Do you need anything? Some tea for your throat?"



He shook his head once more. "I just want to sleep. Can you turn off the lights all the way this time? It hurts my eyes when you left some lights on the last time." He threw his arm to cover his eyes for effect. Seto feverishly nodded.



"Yeah."



He fluffed the pillows that virtually surrounded him and patted his head. He didn't smile, but that was mostly because he was worried. He didn't want to inject his brother with pills that could possibly cause him Reye's syndrome. It might be rare, but there's still that little percent that it just might occur.



It wasn't that Seto was paranoid. He just didn't want anything bad happen to his little brother. After all, he had sacrificed a lot so he could have the warm and comfortable bed. He realized that he was staring at his sleeping brother and shook his head. He closed the door with the softest click he could get from the door.



oooo



He was busy with paperwork for some possible new applicants when he heard his phone ring. The maids and butlers had already gone to bed and it was quite late. Seto stretched his arms over his head; to get the blood flowing since his wrist started to hurt.



He reached over and picked up the receiver after he pressed the blinking phone line button. The brunet brought it to his ear and sighed.



"Hello?What do you want?"



"Geez, is that what you say to your loving boyfriend? Remind me to never call you this late again!"



Seto was almost outright shocked to hear his boyfriend, but even when no one was looking he restrained himself from showing any excitement or any other signs of weakness. He needs to start getting used to feeling this way anyway. He tried to control his voice.



"I reiterate. What do you want?"



He heard him laugh behind the other line.



"I just wanted to see how you and Mokuba are doing. Did you find out what was wrong with him?"



"Yeah, it seems he has the flu."



"Oh."



"Oh? What do you mean 'Oh'? Did you have something to do with his illness?"



He heard the other laugh nervously.



"Maybe."



He narrowed his blue eyes.



"You had the flu yourself, didn't you?"



Once again he laughed nervously. "...Uh, maybe?"



"And then you passed it to my brother."



"I guess?"



"Right."



Then he just hung up. He went right back to work, but he was angry at him. He might be his 'eternal golden Adonis' (Jou's words - not Seto's), but infecting his brother with a virus that could possibly kill him? Unforgivable.



The phone rang once more; Seto knew who it was. He lifted the phone then slammed it again. He didn't want to hear the mutt's excuses or apologizes. They were going to be rehashes of pervious excuses he used and frankly, he didn't want to hear them again.



For the third and final time, the phone rang. This time, Seto decided to pick it up and listen to him. Despite the fact that Seto wants to destroy him, he still longed to hear his voice. He was gone for merely two weeks already with barely any phone calls because there was some drama going on over where he was.



"You have exactly one minute to start with your excuses." He glanced at his wristwatch."And... go."



"Kaiba, this is stupid! I didn't mean to pass it to Mokuba! Besides, I'm sure he got it from school! You know how careless those other rich kids tend to get."



"Not Mokuba. He knows better then to touch sick kids' crap."



He could just hear the blond roll his eyes.



"Whatever, fine, fine! Mokuba's a saint. Just don't hang up on me..."



"Mm, Idon't know."



"Kaiba!"he whined.



Seto smirked; he enjoyed making Jou beg for his attention.



After some more bantering, the other had to hang up but before he did he had told Seto to at least call Anzu for some advice when it comes to anything homemade - because a certain blond had the misfortune to taste some of Seto's home cooking.



"It's not that bad, Mutt. You were sick yourself."



"Sure, Kaiba. Anyway, at least promise me you'll call her. She's really great with that kind of thing. I have to go. Mom and Dad are fighting again. I love you."



"Whatever."



Then he hung up. He almost cursed at himself for not returning the love gesture, but they both had business to take care of. He glanced at his watch once more and decided to go to bed. After all, he had a long day tomorrow.



oooo



All day at the office, Seto had his mind occupied on his brother. He didn't want to leave him alone with the servants. They didn't know how to take care of the mansion properly, much less another human being. He almost fired his entire board for taking so long with their meeting - he had a sick brother to attend to, dammit!



Once he was finally home, he didn't hesitate to get a bite to eat, to take off his shoes, nothing. He just went straight to the boy's room to only see him sleeping soundly. The butler chased him all over the mansion, trying to get him to take off his muddy and snow covered shoes.



He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that his brother was all right. When he saw the mess he made, he got indignant towards the butler.



"Why is there a mess? Clean it up!"



"But Master-"



"No excuses. Clean it up now!"



He took off his shoes and messy coat and tossed them aside.



He then rushed to the kitchen to get out ingredients for chicken soup where the surprised chef asked him what he was doing there.



"Making some soup for my brother - why do you care?"



The chef stepped out of the way and even offered some advice on how to make proper chicken soup.



"Lay afinger on me and I'll chop one of yours off."



With that, the chef never bothered him for the rest of the evening unless Seto asked for his assistance. Once he ordered the scared chef to make a light dinner for him, he took the soup and some crackers -- along with some soda that goes easy on the stomach - on a tray as carefully as he could. He spilled some on the ground inevitably and barked at the staff to clean it up.



Once he made it to his brother, he turned on the light. The boy groaned and moaned as he forced himself awake and to sit up.



"Brother?"he said his voice still very hoarse.



"I made some soup for you." He said, almost sounding like a child himself. It would sound very strange coming out of Seto, but to Mokuba this was as normal as Seto threatening to maim someone if they ever came near the Kaiba family to hurt the young boy. Seto placed the tray and the dark-haired boy reached for the spoon and swirled the soup as he put some crackers in it. He crushed them as Seto pulled out a seat and sat next to the bed, eagerly waiting to see what his brother thought of his cooking.



Sadly, Mokuba also had experience with Seto's cooking and seemed very unsure about it. He turned and gave Seto a small smile. He reached for his soda and took a sip. Once he placed it back, he got a small spoonful and brought it to his lips. He blew the steam off of it and took a small sip.



He closed his eyes, awaiting the horrid taste that usually plagues his cooking. Much to his surprise, however, it was actually good! He opened his eyes with obvious shock.



"Wow! When did you become a chef?"



Seto smirked proudly. "Well, only the best for my brother, for a Kaiba."



Mokuba just laughed. "Right." He coughed.



Seto immediately got up and rushed to his aid, but he pushed him away.



When he could speak, he gave Seto a small smile. "Don't worry so much, brother. I'm getting tougher. I'm not as sick as I used to be."



He didn't want to admit it, but that was true. When Mokuba was younger, he was more prone to the dangerous diseases. It didn't help the raggedy orphanage didn't have access to the medicines Seto does now.



He bit his lip. "But-"



"No buts about it. You've told me once that Kaibas' are strong. Well, let me prove that to you."



"But-"



"Brother, please. Concentrate on Jou. I know you miss him. Don't let me get you sick. You're busy enough as it is. I'll get Maria to get more soup."



He had nothing to say. Mokuba was right. He did say that Kaibas were strong. Granted, he didn't want to see his brother suffer. He smiled at him as he rubbed his head.



"Why are you smart, Mokuba?"



"Cause my big brother is a nut job who thinks education really is that important."



Seto couldn't help but laugh at that, but of course it was more of a chuckle then an actual laugh. He was truly grateful to be surrounded by wonderful, though he'll never admit it at least out loud, people who genuinely cared for his and Mokuba's well-being and to have an understanding brother.



He'd have to thank Anzu for the recipe later. Maybe.